I absolutely delighted in this little piece of forbidden romance (well… forbidden, mostly, but agreed upon by both married couples involved). Dating the “other” and *ahem* more. But with ground rules!!! AND OMG that is just asking for all sorts of trouble because emotions get in the way of rules and anyway, rules are meant to be broken, right? When they start breaking the rules, the hearts are bound to follow, and my heart was wrapped right up with them! See for yourself… here’s my review, and my reaction video.

I’m here to tell you, there is relief on the horizon. The author is here with some news, and to tease us directly from her upcoming book #2. She says:

“So I FINALLY have some news for you! about The Ground Rules Book 2. You were asking about release dates…

It’s going to be called ‘The Ground Rules Rewritten‘ and the cover is ALMOST ready … ALSO… we have a release date – October 20th! Yay!”

*SQUEEEEE!!!!* !!!!! Now… it’s time for a bit more teasing. And what a teaser it is!!

Neither of us utters a word. Silence fills the eerily quiet room.

I wonder what’s going on in his mind. What he wants. Why he hasn’t come to me.

“That husband of yours,” he finally says, “he’s what one would call a ‘bad boy’.”

I smile.

Yes, he is.

And then it hits me. The reason Weston is acting so peculiar, so unlike himself, so alpha. He’s jealous. Insanely jealous. Seeing me with Gabe all week must be driving him mad. And I like that. I don’t know why but I love it. I love the fact that he’s acting so territorial. It’s such a turn-on.

“A little,” I finally say with a coy smile. “He has his moments.”

“You enjoy that?”

I think about it for a moment. I suppose I do. “What do you consider yourself, Weston? A bad boy or a good boy?”

He pauses and scratches his chin. “A good boy,” he says with a wicked smile, “of course.”

A mischievous grin stretches across my face. “Of course. I enjoy my men both good and bad, I suppose. I like to mix it up.”

“You are a wicked girl,” he says with that familiar expression. He’s going to pounce, very soon.

Splendid. We are here to screw. I was starting to wonder.

I slide the tip of my finger along my bottom lip. “Are you planning on kissing me anytime soon?”

He laughs softly. “Soon enough. What have I told you about patience, butterfly?”

I blow out a breath, my body tense, aching for his touch.

His intense gaze is still going strong. “But first, I think I owe you something.”

My body stands to attention, suddenly curious. What could he possibly owe me?

I watch intently as he walks over to the desk. He presses a button on the iPod player and drags his finger along the display. He smiles as he turns to me.

The melody is beautiful, haunting.

And familiar.

I know this song. It’s the last song on the mixed CD I made him.

He closes the distance between us slowly. His eyes are black in the darkness of the room. His lips seem so full, begging to be kissed. When he reaches me, I find myself motionless. For some reason I don’t quite understand, I can’t seem to move.

Weston slides his hand around my hip, his finger gliding easily against the silky fabric of my dress. My body almost explodes. This is the first time he’s really touched me in days.

His other hand cups my chin. I look up at him, anticipating a kiss. “I believe I owe you a dance,” he says.

“You do,” I whisper. “It was very hurtful of you, refusing to dance with me.”

The song echoes against the walls, so crisp, so real—a man begs his lover to stay.

I press my forehead softly against his chin and we start to move in languid circles. With one hand on my hip and the other on my face, he doesn’t press too close against me, keeping me at bay. I close my eyes, enjoying the beautiful song and the sensation of finally being in his arms.

He trails his hand to my back. “We’ve never danced before,” he breathes softly. He traces a line down the length of my spine slowly. My skin prickles, erupting in goosebumps. He presses his mouth against my shoulder as his finger travels past the small of my back, dipping sensually low. His hand lingers on the edge of the silky fabric, pooling down over my rear. “This is quite the dress,” he whispers.

I laugh softly. “I know. I couldn’t even find a bra to wear with it.”

“I’ve noticed. I’ve been noticing all night. Like I said, your dress has been driving me insane.”

I realize no man has ever desired me as much as he does, at this moment. Not even Gabe.

“You want me?” I ask, wanting him to say the words.

He pulls me closer. And I have my answer. “More than you can imagine,” he breathes.

And we keep moving in circles.

He trails his cheek against mine, his lips near my mouth. I like the feel of his hot breath on my skin. I close my eyes as we dance like this for the longest time. My hands delicately rest on his shoulders, the fabric of his dark button up shirt is stiff. His hands are wrapped around my waist. There’s something very chaste, yet very sensual about this dance. We’re barely touching each other, but the air is charged.

The song comes to an end. We pause in each other’s arms. And then it starts again.

I want to dance again. And again and again.

OMG HOT!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in love with these two!!! There’s gonna be trouuuuuubllllleee…..

OMG Maryse, you are not the only one in love with these two!! My most anticipated book for 2015. Roya Carmen is my new favorite, boy can she write!! Cannot wait to see where this story goes. Love Weston!!

See! I read this book and yes the writing was great BUT for the life of me I couldn’t understand why a perfectly happily married couple would swap! I. DID. NOT. GET. IT. Of course I’ll be reading the sequels and hopefully SEE THE LIGHT of the AWESOMENESS of this story but with book 1 I JUST DIDN’T.

Jean, I really want to read these books!! BUT, I’m hoping it was a typo on the authors website that book #3 is winter 2016 & should be 2015. Otherwise I will be waiting to read this trilogy until it is complete.

YES! YES! YES! Time to re-read book 1! I know this story isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea.” Would I dare try something like swapping? No. My heart is too tender for an arrangement like that. But… BUT! I have always been curious about the mechanics of those types of arrangements. Like how in the world could it not go wrong? This book deliciously feeds into that curiosity and delivers in spades!! I’ve been impatiently waiting for book 2 and Oct. 20 couldn’t get here fast enough!

Book #3 is in the works as we speak! We don’t have an official release date yet, but it certainly won’t be late 2016! I doubt we will do it in December ’15, but let’s hope for soon after.

We will announce Book 3 later this year. Maryse will be one of the first to know, so watch this space! And/or for more Ground Rules and Roya Carmen writing, you can join The Rule Breakers Group on Facebook.

I can’t. I bought it & I even clicked on to the 1st page but I just don’t know if I can read it. I have such a major hang up about cheating….I know, I know, it’s fiction, these aren’t real people….but I still get that sick to my stomach feeling when I read it. Convince me….someone tell me it’s not that bad. I want to read it…I do….but just need a push, I guess.

Ok, I’m at 75% and a week ago I put it down and think it may be one of the few books I do not finish. At 35% I felt as if I was watching a slo mo car wreck with my hands over my eyes. And now . . . . I just seriously hate Mirella. Like, loathe her. I’ve never had a reaction like this to a heroine in a book.

Her husband is hot. Hot as eff. Great in bed. Playful, sexy, adores her, works hard, sexy, great dad, SEXY. I’m talking doing it in the backseat of a car type sexy. After that many years together, if your husband is still hot as eff, and treating you like he can’t keep his hands off you, why? WHY?! Why would you throw that away?! Time and again throughout the book I feel like she’s making the conscious decision to flush her marriage down the toilet.

Ugh.

Rant over.

But in the author’s defense, it is really well written. I guess it’s just not my cup of tea.

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About Me

I am happily addicted to reading but I need to expend my book energy (especially when one puts me in an emotional frenzy - SO fun!). So, I release my feelings about the stories, by writing them down here. It's my book therapy. [ read more ]